Chung Jee-yea overheard a colleague sobbing in a bathroom, unable to find someone on the phone to pick up her sick child from school. It was a moment she, too, would experience as a mom and one that led her to quit her job and start a service to help parents faced with the same quandary.
Six years later Momsitter, an online platform that matches families with potential babysitters, has gained more than 1 million users. Chung tapped into South Koreans’ tech savvy to respond to a culture that frowns upon working mothers.
“The culture of guilt is still with us,” Chung said. “We’re so used to raising children just by moms.”
Photo: Bloomberg
Momsitter provides the tools to allow women to challenge the idea they cannot have both children and a career, she said.
Such social pressures contribute to one of the gravest long-term threats to South Korea’s economy: a declining population. The country has the world’s lowest fertility rate.
Part of the problem is that South Korea’s rapid economic development and urbanization atomized families, cutting off support networks of relatives. The nation ranks at the bottom for social capital in the developed world, meaning the level of trust among people is exceptionally low.
That has a direct effect on economic prosperity, London-based think tank the Legatum Institute said.
“It takes an enormous amount of trust to leave your child with someone, but the supply of such people is limited,” said Bae Yun-jin, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education. “Accessibility of support facilities for mothers also varies for each region.”
While South Korea has kindergartens, nurseries and public babysitter programs, Momsitter aims to fill the remaining gaps, particularly for higher-income families.
Women’s difficulty finding support limits South Korea’s economic potential and is reflected in the nation’s struggle to bring its female labor-market participation rate above 60 percent. South Korea and Italy were the only Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) members in 2021 that had per capita GDP above US$40,000 and a participation rate below 60 percent.
As women feel torn between children and a career, South Korea continues to struggle with a low birthrate. A typical South Korean woman is expected to have an average of 0.81 children over her lifetime, the latest data from 2021 showed. The number of newborns is just 0.5 percent of the population.
The declining birthrate threatens to erode prosperity as a shrinking workforce is forced to support a swelling aged population. With fewer babies born and workers to support the economy, growth is also poised to slow.
Alarmed by the faster-than-expected rate of population aging, the government is increasing its efforts to encourage people to have more children. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has tripled payments for mothers of newborns.
However, the problem is deeper than financial support.
Economists say gender inequality is central to the fertility crisis.
On top of the struggle to hold down a job, South Korea has the biggest wage gap between men and women in the developed world.
Mothers are considerably less likely to be hired than childless women, the OECD said.
The government launched its own babysitter service in 2007. About 27,000 sitters helped 78,000 families last year, with the focus of support on lower-income parents, the South Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said.
Demand continues to outstrip supply, especially among higher-income parents, often forcing them onto waiting lists. That is where Momsitter comes in — while also helping to boost the supply of babysitters.
Apps similar to Momsitter are also catching on, including Tictocrroc and Jaranda. They specialize in providing tutors for specific subjects for children and playmates for young ones.
Chung said that her start-up looks to services like care.com in the US for pointers.
Local investors such as the Korea Development Bank and Daol Investment & Securities Co have so far embraced her vision, extending funding of 13.3 billion won (US$10.26 million), she said.
There are also lingering concerns about safety and vetting of sitters. Cases of abuse and harm to children are occasionally reported internationally, often because of the difficulties of checking candidates thoroughly.
Momsitter administers aptitude tests for babysitters and provides information including health reports, reviews by other parents and any certificates they might have.
It bans “troublemaking” babysitters and parents from the service for five years, Chung said.
“Information builds trust and our role is to help mothers make informed decisions,” she said. “We need to break the cycle of mothers having no choice but to be with their children around the clock regardless of whether they want it or not.”
“We need to keep mothers happy,” she added.
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